To Save Them All
by MissMandS
Summary: As she stares at Fili and Kili she doesn't see warriors or princes. She sees young children hurting for their uncle, their mentor. Their teachers who taught them runes, who taught them how to fight. Children, unprepared for the war that is upon them. Children, unsure of how to fix this hurt. Children, scared out of their wits. Poly relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Bella stares out at the mountains of gold, her chest aching from the gleam that seems to bounce off every available corner of the room. Somewhere in this mound of treasure are Balin, Dwalin and Thorin. She wonders if they've eaten, slept or if they could even tell when they last did those things. She stares the mountains of gold, jewels and the gems all glittering and shining. Each one of them calling to the dwarves and beckoning them closer and closer. Madness she thinks to herself as she looks over it all. Absolutely positively madness. She spends such a long time staring out at the treasure that she nearly jumps out of her skin when a pair of hands claps her on the shoulders.

"Bella. We need to speak with you." Fili's eyes are dark as they dart over the gold. Beside him Kili looks prepared to fight off whatever might jump out at them. Weeks ago she would have called their behavior ridiculous but now, she doesn't even know what could jump out at them. So as she follows after them she feels her own gaze shifting back and forth, flinching at every noise that reaches her ears.

"What's this about Fili? Why are you hiding me from the others?" Bella asks as they lead her from the treasury and deeper into the halls of Erebor.

"Because we don't know who could be listening. And what we're about to ask of you is—well. I can only ask that you'll forgive us Bella." Fili's face is drawn as he stares at her.

"What is it?" Bella asks. The brothers exchanges glances and Bella notices their hands are flying through some signs. It's Kili who finally lowers his hands and looks at Bella, eyes hard.

"The gold sickness has claimed uncle and I'm scared Bella. I'm scared for him and for myself and for all of us. War is upon us and uncle still can't see it. He can't see this." Kili's voice wobbles and he bites down on his lower lip, hard.

"We ask that tonight you go to uncle, Balin and Dwalin. And you must make them believe you don't love them. That what you've all shared has meant nothing. And then return to the Shire." Fili supplies for her.

"Fili," Bella begins.

"Hurt them to save us all." Kili begs. Bella feels rooted to the ground. She could not, would not hurt them. She could not imagine doing such a thing. The very idea made her chest ache and tears prick at her eyes. But as she stares at Fili and Kili she doesn't see warriors or princes. She sees young children hurting for their uncle, their mentor. Their teachers who taught them runes, who taught them how to fight. Children, unprepared for the war that is upon them. Children, unsure of how to fix this hurt. Children, scared out of their wits.

"Okay." Bella whispers and looks down at her feet. She will not; cannot face them now. Knowing in a few hours they could possibly hate for doing what they asked her to do. The boys brush past her, their arms clamped to their sides. Not a whisper floats down the hallway and into her pointed ear. Not a laugh. Not a breath. None of them for talk, for laughter, for anything that could possibly distract them from their treasure. That's what she tells herself.

Despite this Bella wonders why this hurts so much? Why does it feel like her chest is being clawed apart from the inside out? Why does she keep stopping every few steps to fall to her knees, gasping for breath as the pain reaches overwhelming intensity? Why she wonders does this keep happening despite the words she continues to repeat to herself.

She waits until she catches sight of the three of them together, staring out over the walls of Erebor. Her palms are sweaty, clutching the three courting beads in her closed fist. She will not break down. She will be brave. Her knees wobble and she takes what she hopes is a steadying breath as she approaches them.

"I hope you will forgive me gentle dwarves for what I am about to do." Bella says, giving them a low bow as she holds out her hand. They stare at the beads in her hands, eyebrows furrowed as they share looks with each other. Their eyes are still clouded she notices and her knees give a terrified tremble.

"You're leaving us burglar? Are we not to your satisfaction?" Thorin asks, staring down at her.

"I am not meant for life here in this mountain and I realize that now. The lack of sunlight and gardens in exchange for a life surrounded by darkness, gold, gems and jewels. Something I have no use for as a hobbit has made me realize I don't love you as much as I thought I did." Bella says and squares her shoulders as she turns her hand down, allowing the beads to clatter to the ground. Thorin stares at her, his gaze steely as his jaw snaps shut with an audible click.

"Dwalin escort her to the camps." Thorin finally manages as Balin shakes his head.

"I do not need an escort though I thank you for the offer." Bella bows once more before turning and walking away. She doesn't cry at first though her chest heaves with shaky, uneven breaths.

* * *

Gandalf is the one to greet her when she arrives at the elves camp, his gaze concerned as he takes her appearance in.

"I'm not the same hobbit I was from the beginning of the journey Gandalf. Hobbits are not made for the mountains nor did Yavanna make us for war." Bella sighs as the two walk towards a tent together.

"You're leaving us." Gandalf says.

"Back to the Shire as soon as possible." Bella nods.

"I'm sorry to say that I cannot leave right now. But I have an escort available to take you back to the Shire. Allow me to introduce you to Aragorn." Gandalf pulls back the flap of a tent, revealing a man draped in a ranger's cloak. He's tall with tan skin and brown hair that hangs down to his shoulders. His eyes are a sharp, sleet gray that seem to look right through her as he bows.

"Thank you for escorting me home to the Shire." Bella says and offers a bow of her own.

"It is my pleasure little mistress." Behind her comes the shuffling of robes as Gandalf prepares to leave. Bella reaches out, grabbing hold of him.

"Gandalf, would you please give this to Bard after I've departed?" Bella reaches into her pocket and pulls out the Arkenstone.

"Bella." Gandalf begins.

"I'll miss you dearly Gandalf. When do you think we can depart Aragon?"

* * *

I know that Aragorn is a child at time of the Hobbit. But welcome to my story, my world where I do not give a fuck. If you don't like it then there is a door for you to step out of.


	2. Chapter 2

There's no talking between the two of them at first. Bella sits atop her pony and keeps her head bent as the tears fall freely. She sniffles and snuffs but Aragorn makes no comment from atop his horse as he leads her. The only sounds come from the animals that snort and whinny at each other. Their first night is silent as they set up a fire and eat. Bella manages a meager portion before she shoves it away and crawls into her bedroll. Aragon sits up long after her, puffing on his pipe and filling the air with sweet smelling smoke. Bella falls asleep to his quiet humming and tries to ignore the absence of three bodies pressing at her sides.

Neither of them say much for the rest of the week other than 'thank you' and 'of course little mistress'. It continues like this until they've been on the road for a week and Bella's sitting by the fire, her knees drawn up to her chest. Aragorn sits across from her, once more puffing on his pipe.

"You should eat more little mistress. We've a long road ahead of us and you'll need your strength." Aragorn says, his eyes on Bella's untouched bowl of soup.

"When we were travelling through Mirkwood our food ran low. We were all trying to ration it but we were so hungry. And I remember this time when Dwalin came up to me and gave me his rations." Bella's voice wobbles.

"He'd never approached me much before that. And suddenly in the forest Dwalin was willingly to sacrifice his rations to go towards mine. Each time we stopped to eat he would add his to mine." She clears her throat and tries to will the tears away that are quickly threatening to spill over.

"Could I tell you something Aragorn?"

"Only if you wish to share it with me little mistress."

"They're not the same dwarves I fell in love with. The same dwarves I travelled with. The gold sickness had taken them and….My heart aches to think of the dwarves who invaded my house months ago. Fili and Kili, the king's nephews came to me and asked me to make them believe I didn't love them anymore and to go home to the Shire.

"These two are the ones I've travelled with and seen slay orcs and wargs. They've killed goblins without a problem. But they're not truly adults yet. They still love to play pranks and jokes. And they're desperate at times for their uncle's approval. I fear after this is all over I will never see the spark of light in their eyes that we all cling to, that is the child in us, again." And with that the tears she's tried so hard to hold back finally spill over. She buries her face into her filthy trousers, ignoring the dust and dirt coating them. Aragorn rises from his spot across the fire and comes to sit next to her, pulling her towards his chest. Bella lets out a sob, turning her face into his chest and clinging to his cloak. They remain like this for some time, Aragorn humming and rubbing circles on her back as she lets out continuous sobs.

"I'm sorry." Bella whispers as the tears begin to dry up. She sits up with a blush staining her cheeks as she stares up at the man. His cloak is soaked from her tears she notes with embarrassment.

"There is no need to apologize little mistress." Aragorn gives her a small smile. "I was asked to escort you back to the Shire and I would like to make the journey as comfortable as possible."

"I'm sorry they didn't warn you might be used as a handkerchief." Bella mumbles, eyeing the wet spots on his cloak.

"Do you feel better though?" He asks.

"Aside from the puffiness of my face, my runny nose and the embarrassment threatening to consume me, yes I do." This earns a chuckle as the ranger stands up. He brushes off the knees of his trousers and nods towards a small area off the path.

"There's a river a ways down. It's not very deep but the waters clean if you wish to clean up before dinner." Bella gives him a grateful smile and gives Sting a reassuring pat as she makes her way towards the river. She could remember after defending Thorin and making their way to Beorn's how awful she'd truly felt. Layer after layer of sweat, dirt and blood seemed to be caked on her skin and in her hair. She'd been stripping down for a bath when Thorin had walked in, his face drawn.

Bella had let out a shriek, pulling her shirt to her chest. Thorin didn't snort at her but he didn't smile either. Her cheeks had flamed red as she considered throwing a bar of soap at him.

"Just what do you think you're doing in here?" Bella squeaked.

"Would you allow me to wash your hair?" Thorin asked and she could have sworn that she saw a blush on his face.

"Oh," Bella managed and lowered the shirt ever so slightly. "Oh, of course. Just please turn around for a moment."

"Balin has spoken to you then?" Thorin asked as Bella finished disrobing.

"We've spoken about a lot of things. But yes, he spoke to me about how some dwarves will have more than one spouse. I'm surprised he didn't fall out of the saddle when I asked how he thought hobbit families became so large." She nearly giggled at the startled snort that came from Thorin. Bella sank into the water with a sigh and leaned back against the stone wall, her eyes closed as Thorin's heavy footsteps came across the floor. His fingers were hesitant as they hovered over her hair, his eyes practically burned a hole into the top of her head as the water continued to drip.

"Go ahead." Bella said and nearly let out a groan as Thorin's fingers began massaging her scalp. His fingers were gentle as they massaged deeper and deeper until Bella could practically feel herself melting into the bathtub. Thorin's throaty chuckle brought her back into the world of the living. Bella looked up to see him smirking down at her.

"You're going to drown in there." Thorin teased.

"Well I'm glad to know you would jump in and save me." Bella grumbled. Thorin's fingers stilled and left her hair in favor of her chin to make her look up at him.

"I will never allow harm to come to you. Never." Thorin vowed as his fingers resumed their task.

Bella sniffles as she sinks her hands into the icy water of the river. There is no Thorin here now. There are no dwarves here now. If she closed her eyes and tried hard enough she could imagine that Thorin was here now. Along with Balin and Dwalin and everything would be okay. But when she opens her eyes she's alone, staring at her reflection. She lets out a ragged sob and beats her hands against the water. Bella hunches over; sobbing as she folds in on herself. She doesn't even notice when Aragorn comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. He tugs her up gently, guiding her back towards their camp.

"Come little mistress." Aragorn says gently.

"Would you hum that song again?" Bella asks and leans heavily against him as they walk together.

"Of course." And he does throughout the rest of the night.

* * *

It is one in the morning and I have just taken my migraine, allergies, Raynaud's and sleeping pills. I am gone for the night and most of this next day. Goodnight everyone.


End file.
